Current Affairs Quiz - February, 2020

Notes:
The IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number is a 15-digit unique serial number of mobile devices. It is allocated by a global industry body GSMA and its authorised organisations. In India, Mobile Standards Alliance of India (MSAI) is the official reporting body of GSMA.
Recently, the Department of Telecom has taken over the process of issuing and allocating the IMEI numbers for mobile phones in India from the private body MSAI. The new ‘Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction (ICDR) system’, which has been developed by the R&D unit of DoT is being tested on pilot basis on the web portal of Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR).

Notes:
Indian hockey star and the Indian women’s team captain Rani Rampal was recently named as the ‘World Games Athlete of the Year’. She also became the first-ever hockey player worldwide to win the award.
The FIH (International Hockey Federation) has recommended her name for the prestigious award. Rani has topped the 20-day-poll conducted by the World Games with the highest number of votes. She was the player of the tournament in the last year’s FIH Series Finals, in which she led the country to win.

Notes:
The Economic Survey 2019-20 presented on January 31, 2020 stated that India is ranked third globally in number of new firms created. It also revealed that as many as 1,24,000 new firms have been created in India in the year 2018 alone.
The survey quoted this data on firm creation from the World Bank’s data on entrepreneurship. The number of new firms created from 2014 to 2018 grew at a rate of 12.2 per cent. It also stated that more new firms were created in services sector in the country when compared to the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

Notes:
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has appointed Indian-American Arvind Krishna as its new Chairman. The 57-year-old leader is currently serving as the head of the ‘Cloud and Cognitive software unit’ of IBM.
He is known for playing an instrumental role in the acquisition of Red Hat by IBM, undertaken last year. He has also led the development of several advanced technologies by IBM including cloud and quantum computing. He replaces the long-time female CEO of IBM, Virginia Rometty, who will continue to serve as the company’s executive Chairman.

Notes:
In the Union Budget 2020-21, the Government has set its disinvestment target at ₹ 1.2 Lakh Crores for the fiscal year 2020-21. The government also expects ₹90,000 crore revenue from disinvestment of government stake in public sector banks and financial institutions, including the LIC and IDBI bank. This is in addition to the 1.2 Lakh Crore target and hence a total of ₹ 2.1 Lakh Crores worth disinvestment is scheduled.
This year, the government has missed the disinvestment target of ₹1.05 lakh crore. So far, ₹18,000 crore has been generated via disinvestment. The revised estimates set ₹65,000 crore as disinvestment target for this fiscal.

Notes:
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the third Defence Attaches conference at New Delhi. He also announced that India is set to have 10 more Defence Attaches in 10 different countries.
This creation of additional 10 defence wings will strengthen the defence diplomacy of the country and help in increasing exports in defence sector. Under the central government scheme of promoting defence exports, funds are allocated for export through Defence attaches to 34 countries.

Notes:
Authorities from the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research have recently signed agreements with India in the fields of higher education and research, in New Delhi.
This agreement is a part of the visit of delegation of important educational institutions of Norway to India. Among the several agreements signed, the significant pact was between the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and The Arctic University of Norway (UiT), for co-operation in the fields of bio-photonics, health and diagnostic tools, nanotechnology.

Notes:
Bhutan is the correct answer. The country follows a ‘high value, low volume’ tourism policy and charges a Sustainable Development Fee from visitors to help finance environmental protection, cultural preservation, and infrastructure development. The current standard SDF is US$100 per person per night for most foreign visitors, while Indian nationals pay a preferential rate of Nu./INR 1,200 per person per night. This fee is a key part of Bhutan’s tourism model.

Notes:
The Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a dispute resolution scheme for direct taxes in the recent Union Budget 2020-21.
Under the proposed scheme, the taxpayers whose tax demands are locked in any dispute in any of the forums can pay their due taxes by March 31, 2020. By paying it before the deadline, the taxpayer can get complete waiver of interest and penalty. With an additional 10 per cent, he can pay up to June 30. The Finance Minister recently introduced the ‘Vivad se Vishwas’ bill in the parliament. Last year, a scheme for dispute resolution for indirect taxes called ‘Sabka Vishwas’ was launched.

Notes:
Indian Cricket star Virat Kohli retains his top rank in the latest brand valuation study by Duff & Phelps. He is placed at the first spot third year in a row.
The report revealed that Virat Kohli has increased his brand value by 40 per cent to $237.5 million in 2019. The second place was bagged by Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, who pushed the last year’s second rank holder Deepika Padukone to third. The third spot is shared by actor Ranveer Singh. Former Indian captain M.S.Dhoni is placed at 9th place in the list.